THE grieving mother of a popular Coventry footballer has hit out at the sentence given to the driver involved in the accident in which her son died.

Paul Fletcher, pictured, a goalkeeper for Folly Lane, suffered fatal injuries after being hit by a car as he crossed London Road, Whitley, Coventry, after celebrating a win in January last year.

Police said the driver, Matthew King, aged 20, of Gaulby Walk, Binley, Coventry, had been travelling at a minimum of 62mph on the 40mph road.

On Monday, King pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention. Magistrates fined him #2,000 and banned him from driving for three years.

Mr Fletcher's parents, Pete and Margaret, of Grayswood Avenue, Chapelfields, Coventry, were in court for the verdict.

Mrs Fletcher said: "A life seems very cheap these days. There should be a change in the law but I don't suppose there will be. It is a case of trying to cope but we are not doing very well."

It was revealed in court that on January 6, 2001 - exactly a week before the fatal collision - King had been charged with dangerous driving. In July, he was banned from driving for a year for the offence.

Mrs Fletcher added: "You would have thought he would've learned something from the week before but he obviously didn't learn a thing."

An accident verdict was recorded at an inquest into Mr Fletcher's death. The 36-year-old of Aldbury Rise, Allesley Park, Coventry, worked at Massey Ferguson.